Beginning today, December 1, we will be posting our “Best of 2010″ lists by the various reviewers here at Dear Author. Jill Sorenson began reviewing lesbian romances in 2010 and we are glad to have this addition to our coverage of romance books. Jill is an author herself with romantic suspense books from Bantam Dell and the Silhouette Romantic Suspense line. You can check her books out at jillsorenson.com.

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Jane Litte is the founder of Dear Author, a lawyer, and a lover of pencil skirts. She self publishes NA and contemporaries (and publishes with Berkley and Montlake) and spends her downtime reading romances and writing about them. Her TBR pile is much larger than the one shown in the picture and not as pretty.
You can reach Jane by email at jane @ dearauthor dot com

@Janine: Thanks! I’m looking forward to yours as well. I bought Here There Be Monsters on your recommendation and I really, really loved it.

I’ve been following the other thread with interest and I haven’t commented on what it means to me to be an author/reviewer, but I think it’s important to note that every author on my list is one I’ve found through blogging. Jia enticed me to try Suzanne Collins. Same with Jane and Sherry Thomas. I won the Sarah Mayberry book at Lurv a la Mode. I started reading Carolyn Crane’s wacky blog before she was published and I met Victoria Dahl on MySpace.

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks to Dear Author and to the blogging community in general. It’s an honor to be a member.

@Jill Sorenson: I feel the same way. I can’t count the number of great books I’ve discovered through reviewers and discussions of reviews (And I actually first got to know Sherry Thomas when I emailed her to say how much I enjoyed her AAR review of Ivory’s Beast!)

I’m so glad that you enjoyed Here There Be Monsters. I loved that novella. And that you review for DA, too.

Does anyone know if Meljean Brook’s novella can be purchased separately as an e-novella rather than buying the entire anthology?

I usually like Sarah Mayberry books but Her Secret Fling didn’t work for me quite as well as others of hers. I still liked it but, as an Australian, it bugged me no end when, in the novel, the AFL (Aussie Rules football) grand final was held in Brisbane. The AFL G/F is ALWAYS held at the MCG (in Melbourne) – I’m trying to think of an appropriate comparison – it would be maybe like saying the US Open Tennis is held in Denver, or Honolulu (I can’t compare it to the Superbowl because I know that moves cities – the AFL G/F is like the Aussie Superbowl – it’s a big deal and Australians know it, even if they don’t follow footy.) Just, no.
I do however, realise that those from overseas and who do not follow AFL will not care one way or another but it was kind of like fingernails on the blackboard for me. The characters were sports journalists – you’d think they’d know where the AFL G/F was supposed to be! I was so busy grumbling about it, it kind of threw me out of the story. Sorry, rant over :)

I still think Sarah Mayberry is a great author, it’s just that this isn’t my fave.

How lovely to be on anyone’s list for 2010! Thanks, Jill, for your kind words. Kaetrin, when I wrote Her Secret Fling I was very aware of committing the cardinal sin of moving the grand final out of Melbourne. If it happened in real life, there’d be a lynching, I’m sure! But I really wanted those two to be out of state and be forced to drive back together, and for some reason I really wanted it to be the AFL Grand Final. I meant to write an apology to all outraged Aussies in the readers letter at the front of the book, but somehow it slipped my mind when I was being chased by my editor for the text. Please accept my humble apology for the fictional re-siting of the final – and may it never happen in reality!!!

(And now aren’t I really really glad that I was careful in my wording – honest, but trying hard not to be rude or personal or else now I would be crawling into a hole instead of being only mildy embarrassed.)

@Kaetrin: LOL I’m a huge fan of American football so I would notice a jarring detail in a US-set book. These things are important! At the same time, readers never seem to agree about how much realism a sports romance needs. I’m all for letting authors take liberties. :)

@Kaetrin: I don't think the novella can be purchased separately but I thought it was worth the cover price for that story alone. So much punch packed into 100 pages.

@Sarah mayberry: you're so welcome! Thanks for writing great books.

@Kaetrin: LOL I'm a huge fan of American football so I would notice a jarring detail in a US-set book. These things are important! At the same time, readers never seem to agree about how much realism a sports romance needs. I'm all for letting authors take liberties. :)

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